Impact Summary
Course enrollment has increased dramatically from the 30 students who originally enrolled in the course in 1998. By December 2006, more than 10,000 students had completed the introductory nutrition course from the convenience of their own computers. The program fulfills one of the Arizona Board of Regents priorities: to expand access to the university.
Issue
Completing a college degree in a reasonable time span is a challenge for both traditional and nontraditional students. Many students must work, raise families, or complete internships while working on their degree. Distance education facilitates timely degree completion for students so they can pursue their professions.
What has been done?
The UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Nutritional Science Department and Distributed Learning Lab created an online interactive, student-centered introductory nutrition course in 1998 in addition to the traditional in-class version. Nutrition, Food and You covers the principles of human nutrition. Topics include digestion, absorption and metabolism of energy nutrients; vitamin structure and function; minerals in the body; eating disorders; nutrition and the life cycle; nutrition and disease; food safety; and the world food situation. The emphasis of the course is the scientific approach to understanding human nutritional needs for proper growth, development and life.
The course is offered online during fall, spring, summer and winter sessions. A campus server hosts course-management software for course communication, interactive exercises and testing. The course is offered as an elective or can fulfill a University of Arizona Tier I Biological Science General Education requirement. An orientation is held at the beginning of each term or students can obtain start-up instructions electronically.
Impact
Course enrollment has increased dramatically from the 30 students who originally enrolled in the course in 1998. By December 2006, more than 10,000 students had completed the introductory nutrition course from the convenience of their own computers. The department has evaluated the effectiveness of offering these distributed courses by comparing performance of the online students to those taking the course in a traditional classroom. No difference was found in exam scores, final grades, or between pretest and post-test scores for the two learning environments. The program fulfills one of the Arizona Board of Regents priorities: to expand access to the university.
Funding
- University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Contact
Jennifer Ricketts, instructorDepartment of Nutritional Sciences
The University of Arizona
PO Box 210038
Tucson, AZ 85721
Tel: (520) 621-6999
FAX: (520) 621-4669
Email: jrickett@ag.arizona.edu